𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐀𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋 | 𝟏𝟖+

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 | 𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐎𝐅 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓

ততততত

𝐓 𝐎 𝐁 𝐈 𝐍

In order to slay Leighton to my sword, I need to figure my shit out.

The only way for a feasible chance at destroying him is to convince Imogen to persuade her father to offer his resources—not just resources, but a whole army to strategize a retaliation. Yet, every time the perfect opportunity arrives for me to ask such a question to Imogen, it slips away. A handful of nights have already passed by since I returned, and instead of finishing the rebellion my rather started, I let my heart dominate me.

There's a taste of freedom in these brisk, simple moments with her. Her smile sends me to the moon. Her giggle ignites me like fire. Together, we let ourselves forget about the demise waiting at our feet.

We spend nights near the lake by Mt. Elora, shooting arrows at birds and teaching Imogen how to ride Neph. I teach her to spar, handing her a large tree branch as we dance through the lean grass, battling until I corner her at the edge of the woods. There, I pin her against a towering oak, her chest to mine, and kiss the daylights out of her. I steal her oxygen and ability to think, and the stupid greedy thief inside of me can only think of one word: mine.

All mine.

Even at this night, at this hour, I look over to her as those grey eyes remain glazed on the horizon. She's always dropped subtle hints for her inner infatuation for the ocean. She longs to know what lies on the other side of the vast sea of blue. The Great Blue ocean has always been a mystery, but no one dares travel far due to the pirates that rule the sea.

So what did I do? I stole a small rowboat and brought Imogen here—just off the coast of her kingdom. This is the kingdom she was raised in, and yet due to the unrest that tore through the lands, she hardly breathed the air outside of those castle walls.

The boat wades in the glass waters of the Great Blue ocean, a domain untouched that had always belonged to her. I lean back in the boat, grinning as I watch her roll the sleeves of her cloak and dip her fingertips into the still water, causing it to ripple at the touch.

"I think I see a fish," the excitement in her voice warms me to the core. "There's so many of them that I can't count them all."

"I bet the only fish you see are on your dinner plate," I snicker.

Imogen pouts, but it quickly transforms into that beaming smile I adore, mystified by the ocean before her. There's a whole world out there for her, a world I long to bring her into if I can eliminate the obstacle in her way.

Leighton.

I have to save her from Leighton.

Imogen reaches over and laces her fingers between mine, gnawing on the bottom of her lip. It feels like I just got her back, but time waits for no one. There's just under two months until the wedding, and then these nightly escapades will be nothing but a memory. I know how to breach the Adoridian castle, but Imogen will be kept under lock and key, close to Leighton's quarters. I won't be able to sneak inside. Aspen will be my only way of communicating with her.

"You're still a mystery to me, Tobin," she whispers under her breath. "It feels like there's so many questions I have about you that you haven't answered."

"What do you want to know?"

There's a spark in her that combusts in an instant. "In the last ten years, what else have you done besides thieving?"

I shrug. "Eat. Sleep. Spar."

"But you've been everywhere, haven't you?" Gods, those eyes control me like a puppet on a string. "You've been to every village and danced in every street. There must be something you do to pass the time and distract yourself."